Valkyrie
by Agent Gibbs
Summary: July 20th, 1944 started as a normal day at Stalag 13. Late that afternoon, however, wild rumors were starting to circulate through the camp. The biggest rumor? Adolf Hitler was dead.


**_This story is dedicated to the men that sacrificed their own lives in hope of destroying pure evil._**

July 20th, 1944 started as a normal day at Stalag 13. By 1530 hours, however, wild rumors were starting to circulate through the camp. The biggest rumor? Adolf Hitler was dead.

"Colonel Hogan!" Sergeant Kinchloe stuck his head into Hogan's office, looking for his Commanding Officer.

"What's going on, Kinch?" Hogan asked.

"Wild rumors are floating around. The Underground is saying that Hitler's dead and his own men are behind it."

"Hitler's _dead_?" Hogan emphasized the word, skeptical of the validity of the news.

Kinch nodded. "That's the rumor."

"How?"

"Some kind of bomb. They detonated it at the Wolf's Lair in Rastenberg."

"Rastenberg?"

"East Prussia. Almost 12 hours East from Hammelburg."

Hogan paused, thinking. Finally, he said, "Kinch, sit on the radio until roll call. I'm gonna see what Klink knows."

"Yes, sir." Kinch departed Hogan's office and ran back to the tunnel entrance, nearly knocking Corporals LeBeau and Newkirk on his way.

"_Colonel?_"LeBeau caught Hogan before he had left the barracks. "Why is Kinch running around like a mad man?"

"Yeah, Colonel," Newkirk chimed in. "What's going on?"

Hogan sighed. "There's a wild rumor circulating the Underground right now. Apparently... Apparently, Hitler may be dead."

LeBeau and Newkirk exclaimed in celebration until Hogan shushed them.

"Nothing is confirmed," Hogan reminded the over-excited Corporals. "Sit tight. I don't want the Krauts knowing that we know. Business as usual until it's confirmed."

"_Oui,_ _Colonel,_" LeBeau replied.

"Yes, sir," Newkirk added.

"Good." Hogan straightened himself up and walked out of the barracks, heading directly for Colonel Klink's office.

...

Colonel Wilhelm Klink sat at his desk, trying to avoid writer's cramp from the number of requisitions he had to sign... That is, at least, until Hogan barged in to his office.

"Kommandant, I have a bone to pick with you!" Hogan exclaimed.

"Colonel Hogan, can't you see I'm busy?" Klink replied.

"Signing my men up for the Reserve Army! That's a clear violation of the Geneva Convention!"

"Hogan, these are requisitions," Klink responded, before catching on to what Hogan said. "Who opened their mouth and said I was signing your men up for a Reserve Army?"

Hogan smirked. Too easy. "Nobody said anything, Colonel. I just assumed, given what's going on in Berlin."

Klink dropped his pen. "What's going on in Berlin?"

Hogan shrugged. "I don't know. Schultz didn't say anything else."

"Schultz? How did that _dummkopf_ find out?"

As if on cue, Klink's phone rang. He answered, timidly. "Stalag 13. Colonel Klink speaking. General Beck?! What an honor, sir! What? The _Fürher _is dead? How? Yes, sir. It's none of my business. Operation Valkyrie? Yes, sir! Stalag 13 is at your disposal, General!"

Hogan left Klink's office after hearing that Hitler was dead. He had to communicate with London.

...

The other Prisoners in Hogan's barracks were getting antsy. Not only was their C.O. taking more time than normal talking to Klink, but Hogan's inner circle was staying mum about whatever was going on.

Hogan was walking back into the barracks when the tunnel entrance opened.

"Colonel, we got a problem," Kinch greeted.

"What's going on?"

"Conflicting information. Reports are starting to come in that Hitler may have survived. Meanwhile, the Military is seizing Berlin and arresting Nazi Party members. The same thing's happening all over Europe."

"Does London have any Intel?"

Kinch nodded. "They sent this while you were talking to Klink. _Unconfirmed rumors of Hitler's death. Operation Valkyrie in effect in Germany. Stand by for orders._ Colonel, what do you want to do?"

Hogan sighed. "If Hitler survives, I don't want to think about what might happen. Pass the word: All prisoners stand by for emergency escape. Plan Easy. Tell Carter to get some fireworks ready."

Kinch nodded, turning to the other prisoners in the barracks and delegating tasks. Hogan, meanwhile, had to convince Klink and Schultz (along with the rest of the guards) that it was in their best interest to head for Allied Territory.

...

_1900__ hours._

Kinch had been monitoring the radio all afternoon and most of the evening, except for roll call. By now, Hogan, Carter, LeBeau, and Newkirk had joined him around the radio. The sentence that nobody wanted to hear was then uttered. "_Adolf Hitler is alive_."

Names of alleged conspirators started being rattled off, and Hogan and his men were quick to catch two names they knew quite well.

"Klink and Burkhalter?" Carter asked incredulously. "No way. I mean, yeah, they're Krauts, but they always seemed so loyal."

"Carter!" Hogan admonished. "You and Kinch come with me. Newkirk, LeBeau, spread the word. We go out in two hours."

Newkirk and LeBeau took off, leaving Kinch and a bewildered Carter with Hogan.

"Sir?" Carter looked at Hogan, confused. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to see Klink. Convince him to call a formation and surrender his command, then we make a break for Allied Territory."

"You think he'll go for it, Colonel?" Kinch asked.

"Most definitely," Hogan replied.

"How can you be sure?"

"It beats the alternative of him being dead."

...

"That is a very amusing story, Colonel Hogan," Klink said. "What's even more amusing is that you expect me to believe it! You're running an escape ring under my camp, complete with a mint and uniform shop. A majority of the guards know. And I'm implicated in this plot against the _Fürher_?"

"Not just you," Hogan replied. "General Burkhalter, General Beck, some Colonel named Stauffenberg, and a whole lot more. The only way you live is to surrender the guard and your command to me, and we go West towards the Allies. Your other option is to stay here with your men and be slaughtered by the Gestapo!"

Klink looked Hogan in the eye and folded. "Hogan, I will call the formation. But if you double-cross me, I will not hesitate to shoot you."

Klink called the formation, not directly mentioning the plot against Hitler, but at the same time, telling his command that this was the safer option.

"The Gestapo has little to go on," Klink told his men. "However, this has never stopped them in the past. Therefore, I feel it is in the best interest of all of us for me to surrender my command to Colonel Robert Hogan, United States Army Air Corps."

As if on cue, trucks from the Motor Pool drove up to Klink's quarters. Hogan was able to make out his men in the drivers' seats, even underneath the SS uniforms. Klink recognized LeBeau and Newkirk, as well as a few others, almost immediately. It was at this moment, he realized Hogan was telling the truth.

"Newkirk, LeBeau," Hogan said. "Nice touch with the uniforms."

"Thank you, sir," Newkirk responded. "Yours is in Klink's staff car. LeBeau and I will be there with you."

Hogan nodded and went to grab the uniform from the car, opting to change in the car before Klink got in. Klink, of course, had one question.

"Hogan, where exactly are we going?"

"Underground is clearing us a path to Carentan," Hogan replied. "Allied Airborne troops have the city. They're using it as a beachhead to move inland from Normandy."

"All set, sir," Newkirk told Hogan. "Last explosives are placed."

"Good. Let's get out of here."

The convoy proceeded out of the camp and toward the Allied Line. Half an hour after the last truck left the camp, the Gestapo arrived. Five minutes after the Gestapo arrived, Stalag 13 exploded, from the Guard Towers to the barracks, and everything in between, killing most of the Gestapo agents and wounding the rest.

...

_21 July, 1944. 0800 Hours._

After what seemed like forever, the convoy from Stalag 13 reached Carentan and the Allies. The French Resistance had notified the Allies of Hogan's arrival ahead of time, so they were allowed passage to Cherbourg and from there, London.

For Hogan's Heroes and the guards of Luft-Stalag 13, the war was over.

...

_Over the next few months, in the fallout from Operation Valkyrie, over 7,000 people were arrested, and 4,980 were killed, including Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, General Henning von Tresckow, Colonel General Ludwig Beck, General Friedrich Olbricht, Oberleutnant Wener von Haften, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, and more._

_General Friedrich Fromm initially joined the conspiracy, but in an attempt to save face, betrayed them at the last minute and convened the Court Martial that convicted Haften, Stauffenberg, and another officer, sentencing all three men to death via firing squad. Fromm was later shot for Cowardice._

_Henning von Tresckow killed himself the day after the failed assassination. Before taking his own life, he was quoted as saying, "The whole world will vilify us now, but I am still totally convinced that we did the right thing. Hitler is the archenemy not only of Germany but of the world. When, in few hours' time, I go before God to account for what I have done and left undone, I know I will be able to justify what I did in the struggle against Hitler. None of us can bewail his own death; those who consented to join our circle put on the robe of Nessus. **A human being's moral integrity begins when he is prepared to sacrifice his life for his convictions.**"_

...

**_Hey, guys! This is my first (and maybe only) Hogan's Heroes FanFic... So go ahead and pop those favorite buttons and drop a review. Until next time!_**


End file.
